Final Email

Paige with the Perez family (who used to live by us 11 years ago!)

It was a week full of things catching me off guard. Sister Withers and I are convinced that we found a haunted townhouse in our area, so one day as it came close to 9:00, aka bedtime, we decided to walk past the house. (Side note: Virginia doesn't believe in street lights so it's pitch black outside.) As we're walking past this house, a spotlight turns on and shines straight in our eyes---shepherd and angel style. So we're now blind and then something real freaky, aka probably a squirrel, makes the bush move, now we're blind and in fight or flight. We chose flight and booked it down the street and as I was contemplating my near-death experience I saw something super shifty out of the corner of my eye and so did Sister Withers. In reaction, she tripped and fell into the dirt and I gasped, flipped my head around and screamed SO loud only to behold a grandpa standing on his porch. It was just a grandpa. 

You know what else caught me off guard?? The end of my mission!!!! I complete my mission and fly home this Wednesday and I can honestly say I didn't see that coming. When I decided to serve I didn't realize how much I would come to know and love my Savior. I didn't understand how much God loves all of His children no matter what mistakes they've made or how far away they seem to have strayed. I had no idea how much I would love and care about my Virginians (guys these are my people. I'm tellin' ya!) and I didn't fully understand that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints truly is the restored church of Jesus Christ, the exact same one that He established during His ministry, but because of my mission, now I do. I am so forever grateful that I decided to serve a mission. I LOVE JESUS, my mission, my family and my friends. I really do love you all and hope that you feel the love of your Savior this Christmas season and every day!! 

See you soon:)

Love,

Sister Mod

Happy 18 Months to Me!

A picture of Jesus that I painted :)

This week I hit my 18 month mark and I was feeling super pumped to go out and share the gospel cuz happy anniversary to me and Jesus. I was telling Sister Withers, "This will be the best day of my mission, I promise". I was determined to share the gospel with such power to every person that I talked to. We walked by a man hanging up Christmas lights in his shorts and Uggs. I just knew he was ready for the gospel, it was so obvious. He was hanging up Christmas lights so he was probably looking for Christ's church, plus his outfit screamed let me be a scout master. There wasn't a better candidate in Virginia. I ran up and said, "Hey how are you!" He slowly turned around, looked at my name tag, gasped and ran into a nearby field. Honestly at this point I'm not convinced he stopped running, so if you see a man in shorts and Uggs point him to the nearest chapel. Hahaha! After that we got food poisoning, so the moral of the story is that the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. In case you're still wondering, it was the best day of my mission;)

I loved how they focused on that in the Christmas devotional because it has definitely been a theme for my mission. No matter what is going on around us, when we focus on Christ His peace is with us!! I can't imagine anything that I'd want more than that. 

Love,

Sister Mod

Pre-food poisoning. Happy 18 months to me lololol

A picture of my brother Tate cuz he is a lot cooler than me.

Slow Down and Pay Attention :)

Wow! Another Thanksgiving dinner with the cute family
that had us over.

Last week on "spiritual experiences with Michael Jackson" we ALMOST had a lesson featuring the Jackson 5. This week on "spiritual experiences with Michael Jackson" we DID have a lesson featuring the Jackson 5. Let me set the scene. Sister Withers and I just got let into a lady's house and are now in the process of teaching the restoration. She is feelin' it, we're feelin' it. Right as it gets to the most powerful part of the lesson we hear "I want you back." I was like what the. The music got progressively louder and louder and before you know it, Michael Jackson himself had entered our lesson. We kicked him out real quick and finished the lesson but I have a testimony of the spirit world. The veil is thin hahah.  

Happy Thanksgiving tornado

Lots and lots of miracles this week too! Sister Withers and I were out visiting people who had been taught by missionaries in the past and we were focused on visiting a lot of people in a certain area so we were being way quick, but as we were speed-walking out of an apartment building both Sister Withers and I got the impression to slow down and pay attention. Just after that we saw a light under one of the doors. We knocked and the sweetest family let us in to talk with them. I know that if the spirit didn't help us to do those things would have missed the opportunity to share the gospel with those people! I often am so worried about completing the task at hand that I forget to look around for people who are "perishing in unbelief" or loneliness, depression, stress, etc. I read a talk that says "I have come to see people not as interruptions but as the purpose of my life" and I hope to make that true of myself as well. :) Best way to serve God is by serving everyone else!!

Love,

Sister Mod

Just a big leaf

Our cute friend Anita :)

Happy Thanksgiving smaller tornado featuring pie and the B of M

Pre-Thanksgiving dinner